A non-partisan blog dedicated to a discussion of politics from a social scientific perspective.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Silly Season Starts!

Hello debaters, my old friends...it's good to see you once again. Silly season swings into full gear Thursday (8/6) with the first of what are sure to be many, many, memorable moments as ten of the GOP presidential hopefuls get their chance to stand before a national television audience and make a pitch for support from the few voters who will actually be watching the show. I say 'show' because that is exactly what it will be with 'The Donald' on the stage. Each of the other nine hopefuls will be trying to avoid getting a tongue-lashing from the billionaire real estate developer, now a presidential spectacle. Fear not, dear reader, as there is no danger of the debate actually resembling anything of substance when it comes to policy issues. We'll hear lots of railing against President Obama, promises to repeal Obamacare, promises to void the recent nuclear deal with Iran, complaints about how the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba has empowered the Castro regime, and how illegal immigration is the biggest threat America has ever seen (except for President Obama and Hillary Clinton). Whew, I'm exhausted already!

What you will not hear are any substantive ideas or realistic policy proposals. You won't hear Rick Perry famously forget which cabinet department he plans to eliminate. You won't hear the candidates tell you how the Republican Party will grow its base beyond attracting a larger share of the shrinking white population (although one blowhard will probably say he'll win the African-American vote!). In short, you won't hear a single reason why you should vote for any of these candidates but you'll hear a lot of reasons why you shouldn't vote for them. The Clinton campaign will be looking for snippets to use against each of them should she be the Democratic nominee.

The thing is, a few of these Republicans have a good shot at becoming the 45th President of the United States. I'd put Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, John Kasich, and Marco Rubio in that group. It would be nice if one of them would tell us why we should entrust the presidency to him rather than why we shouldn't entrust it to one of the others or why Barack Obama has been so horrible for the United States. But then, it wouldn't be silly season if there was even the least bit of seriousness to these kind of events, would it? Perhaps we should give them all lethal weapons and let the Hunger Games begin. May the odds be ever in your favor.

About Me

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science. My research interests include the presidency, the Congress, and institutional relationships. I'm married (Kate) with one daughter. We have two rescue hounds named Remy and Tessie, who love to get into trouble. My wife and I are the owners of the web based travel agency 'The Cruise Doctor' We love traveling to Walt Disney World and just about anywhere by cruise ship.